Agatha stared at him. “Who are you?”
The man grinned and came to attention while clicking his heels together. “Herr Doktor Getwin Mittlemind. University of Vienna. MD, Psychology, PhD, Sociology, at your service.”
Agatha nodded. “I…see. You don’t meet many mad social scientists.”
Mittlemind snorted. “Of course not! All the funding goes towards building those flashy clanks and death rays! It’s so unfair!
“I told the Baron: ‘Give me a thousand orphans, a hedge maze, and enough cheese and I can give you the Empire of the Polar Lords within three years!’ But noooo…”
Agatha had had enough of this. The man was working himself up toward a full-blown Spark rant.
Agatha interrupted him. “You are not reassuring me.”
A short, solid young woman dressed in protective gear sidled up to Agatha. “Your pardon, my lady, but you probably can rely on most of us. Hexalina Snaug, at your service, my lady.”
Agatha looked at her. “Oh?
Snaug nodded. “Sure. If you are the Heterodyne and the Castle gets fixed…” She spread her hands. “Then the Baron won’t be using the Castle any more. We’ll be free to go. It’s even one of the conditions of our sentences.”
Agatha glanced over to Gilgamesh and raised an eyebrow inquiringly. “Really.”
Gil, still pinned under the tiger clank’s paw, made affirmative noises.
Agatha turned back to the prisoners and smiled happily. “Very well. Cross me, and die.”
The prisoners beamed. Mittlemind rubbed his hands together. “You won’t regret it, my lady!” He then pulled a battered notebook from his pocket and began flipping through pages. “Now, if I might make a suggestion? I couldn’t help but notice that with the addition of just a very few added walls, your town will make an excellent maze!”
Agatha shrugged. “Let’s get the Castle repaired and I will listen to any scheme—um—proposal that you want to submit.”
The others gasped. This was largesse on an unexpected scale.73
Agatha couldn’t put it off any longer. “All right, I’m going to let them up. Take their weapons and get ready to hold onto Pinkie.”
When the clank finally lifted its paw, Gil raised himself on one arm and looked up at Agatha, an unreadable expression on his face. Agatha’s Spark rage had passed and now she felt slightly ill. It was so hard to see him again. She reminded herself that she still hardly knew him…yet…he had cared for her and she had let him think she was dead…and now, here he was—unexpectedly close with this scheming rival…She knelt next to him and the two stared at each other, silently.
When she spoke, her voice was even and calm. “Look, I’m sorry I can’t cry and let you rescue me, but it looks like I’ve got to be the big bad Heterodyne for a while. I’ve got a lot of people counting on me, starting with someone who’s really sick. That’s why I need you to come with me now, even though I’m really mad at you.” She bit her lip. That would have to do—she didn’t have time for any more explanations right now.
Gil nodded and with a single fluid movement was on his feet offering her his hand. She looked up at him and noticed—for the first time—the ring he wore on a thin metal chain around his neck. Her ring.
The ring he had given her on Castle Wulfenbach. The ring that she had left on poor Olga’s burned corpse. He’d kept it. He…
He spoke. “All right, then we’d better get going.”
Agatha felt relief wash over her. Maybe things weren’t so hopeless after all. She took his hand and pulled herself to her feet. Her heart was pounding. She didn’t let go of his hand. Instead, she pulled him toward her and leaned in until their faces were only centimeters apart. “And later?” she told him, a hint of the Spark still in her voice, “We are going to have a long talk.”
Gil took her other hand in his. He leaned in even closer, glaring down into her eyes. “Yes,” he growled, “Yes we are.”
And then they stood there. He continued to hold her hands and gaze into her eyes. His expression softened. Agatha realized that her breathing was accelerating. “Well…um…good.” She couldn’t move. His eyes were so beautiful—deep and golden brown… “Uh… so that’s settled, then.”
“Um…yeah. That’s settled.” Gil spoke softly, pulling her toward him
Just as she was about to shut her eyes, Agatha glimpsed a sudden motion in her peripheral vision. Her mind’s rosy fog vanished in a flash and she thrust Gil away as hard as she could. They spun away in opposite directions as a burst of mechanical gunfire chewed into the wall next to where they’d been standing.
It was Professor Silas Merlot. He was looking down on them from behind the controls of a heavy walking transport which sported two arm-like guns. “Finally! It’s just too perfect! Now the both of you can die!” he cackled maniacally. Once again, a double stream of metal pounded into the wall, swinging toward Agatha.
“Everybody scatter!” Agatha screamed.
The guns stopped. Merlot deftly slapped a new ammo feed into the intake hopper. “Oh, I don’t care about the rest of them, Miss Clay! But you are going to die!”
Another spray of bullets chased her as she darted away, leaping over furniture and around debris until she slid, gasping, behind the relative safety of a thick stone wall.
Professor Diaz was already there, staring at her with wide eyes. “That was an amazing display of agility, señorita.”
“Thank you, Zeetha! Thank you, Zeetha!” Agatha panted. She looked around frantically. “Where is my stupid death ray?”
Merlot snapped another ammo belt in and then engaged the controls. The machine began to walk forward, Merlot laughing wickedly. “You can’t hide forever!” he called.
With a thump, Gilgamesh leapt onto the back of the walker—scrabbling toward its driver. “She doesn’t have to!” he shouted.
“Guh. How Romantic,” Merlot sneered. He smoothly pulled an efficient looking little zipgun from his pocket and fired a shot into Gil’s shoulder—knocking him back off the machine.
Then he spun and yanked the controls about, just in time to unload both gun barrels into the huge, clawed tiger-clank, which was leaping toward him. The bullets caught the mechanical beast at point-blank range, blew it back against the wall, and pinned it there while they ripped it apart.
At last, the guns ran dry, and the clank finally collapsed to the floor with a crash.
Gil’s groan filled the silence as he stirred on the floor. “Gil!” Agatha called—fear in her voice. “Get out of there!”
Merlot let out a giddy laugh as he reloaded. “Oh my, so many potentially interesting experiments present themselves! Is killing his only son and heir a fitting revenge upon the man who sent me here? Or is he too much of a coldhearted despot to care? We shall see!” He swung about to face Agatha. “But I do find it amusing that you care, Miss Clay. It would be fascinating to find out how much. But…it is the fascination one has when dealing with any monstrously dangerous creature. And if this place has taught me anything, it is caution—so I shall just have to satisfy myself with your immediate death!”
He slammed the controls forward, and the walker stumbled. Apparently the left leg had seized up. Merlot swore. “If it’s not one thing, it’s another.” He threw open a hatch cover and attacked the mechanism inside with a screwdriver and pliers.
Behind the wall, Diaz eyed Agatha. “Our Doctor Merlot is an intense and bitter little man, yes? But what is his grudge against you?”
Agatha shook her head. “I don’t know! I never knew! He was just one of my teachers at the University!”